Heating meter in the apartment: the best way to save money

Heating meter in the apartment: the best way to save money

Heating in the cold season is an important component of a comfortable life, but every year heat supply services are becoming more expensive. The radiator temperature is not always enough for normal heating. Having installed a meter for heating in an apartment, you will need to pay not for the norms established by utilities, but only for actual consumption. Already during the first heating season, it will be possible to reduce the expenditure of the family budget.

Thanks to the meter, you need to pay only for the actual consumption of heat energy

Why is it necessary to install a meter for heating in a residential building

The lack of high-quality heating due to improper operation of the heating system often forces apartment residents to look for alternative sources of heat. At the same time, the reason for poor heating is not always a breakdown in the heating network. Often, employees of housing and communal services in an effort to save money screw the valve, which reduces the flow of hot water, which is especially felt by residents of the upper floors of high-rise buildings.

Quite often, due to the poor operation of the heating system, it is necessary to look for alternative sources of heat

This results in insufficiently warm batteries and the need to use electric heating appliances, which, in turn, entails an increase in electricity costs. Heating in the apartment does not become cheaper at the same time. As a result, it turns out that users have to overpay on all fronts.

Important! The installed and registered heat meter on the battery will allow you to pay only for the heat consumed by a particular apartment, and for nothing more.

Another reason for high payments is often the difference in the temperature of the water that comes out of the boiler room and the one that comes directly into the apartment. Often, the water temperature in the radiator is much lower than normal, which occurs due to heat loss on the main line due to poor insulation or damage to pipes. Even in this situation, all costs fall on the shoulders of the end user.

Sometimes the situation can be completely different when the batteries are so hot that you have to open the windows to ventilate the room. In this case, you have to pay, in fact, for heating the street, which is also not considered correct. Regulators, which are often installed together with heat meters for heating, will help to avoid the problem.

The scheme of the heating meter in the apartment

The main advantages of installing a heat meter in an apartment

The heat energy meter is mounted directly on the pipe through which the heating enters the apartment, and calculates only the amount of heat actually used. If an additional thermostat is installed to the device that controls the flow of water, it will be possible to control the flow of hot water, which can be reduced if necessary. As a result of the work done, the final consumption figure will be significantly lower than that determined by the norms.

After installation and registration of the heat meter in the apartment, you can be sure that only the costs of heating housing will be taken into account in the payment. You will not have to pay for heat losses during transportation or for related costs incurred as a result of poor-quality provision of services by a heat generating company after installation. Heat metering by the meter is carried out on the basis of such indicators:

• consumption of hot water delivered to the apartment;
• the water temperature at the entrance to the heating system and at the exit from the apartment.

As a result of expenses, the amount of heat consumption per day, month or year, calculated in hectacallories, is determined. Modern apartment heat meters have the ability to store data on monthly heat consumption for a long period, usually up to 10 years. Some devices have an additional option that allows you to connect it to a computer and transmit readings over the Internet.

The main advantage of the meter is the ability to significantly save finances

If there is doubt whether the heating meter in the apartment is profitable, you can pay attention to a simple calculation: the price of the device together with the installation is from 7 thousand rubles, and the minimum service life is 12 years. During one season, you can save from 4 thousand rubles on heating according to the meter, which depends on the area of the apartment. Accordingly, for 12 years of use, at least 48 thousand rubles are saved, and this figure is far from final.

Useful information! The only option when you should think about whether it is necessary and possible to put a meter for heating in an apartment is if the housing has a vertical connection system and has not one riser, but several. In this situation, each riser needs its own counter, and this is already costly. In such a situation, it is recommended to install one device on the entrance.

The operating costs of the meter are insignificant, because basically only the call of a specialist for checking the device is paid, which is carried out no more than once every 5 years. It is also sometimes necessary to replace the batteries, but this has to be done by those who do not use the meter.

The main types of wiring of the heating system in a residential building

Multi–storey buildings can have one of the options for wiring the heating system – vertical or horizontal. The houses of the old foundation, such as Khrushchev and Stalinka, are mainly characterized by a vertical heating system. In this case, the heating circuit can be one- or two-pipe. However, the run of heat carriers through the interstory levels has a sequence from bottom to top and from top to bottom. The main disadvantages of vertical wiring:

The heating wiring system in a multi-storey building can be vertical or horizontal

The main disadvantage of vertical wiring is the complexity of installing an individual meter for heating in an apartment, because you will need to purchase a separate heat meter for each riser, which significantly increases costs. In this case, another energy consumption accounting tool is more often used – a heat distributor, the installation of which will require the consent of at least 50% of the residents of the entrance.

Most new buildings are distinguished by horizontal heating wiring, when there is also a vertical riser designed to distribute the coolant on different floors, and a return main. Both from the first and from the second riser, horizontal pipes are installed in each apartment, carrying out both the supply and the reverse outflow of water from the system. The return line serves to collect the cooled water and transport it back to the heating station. The advantages of horizontal wiring include:

• the ability to adjust the temperature of the heat supply to the batteries of each apartment;
• carrying out work on the repair of the system in a separate circuit without disconnecting other apartments;
• the ability to disconnect each circuit separately from the heating.

Diagram of a horizontal heating system in an apartment building

Heating meter options: individual and communal appliances

Depending on the conditions and the layout of the heating network, there are two types of heat meters: communal and individual – in each apartment. Both methods have the right to life, and each has its own advantages and disadvantages.

A communal heat meter in an apartment building is considered an excellent option, especially if most residents are willing to financially participate in its installation. Despite the fact that the cost of installation and the price of the heat meter are quite high, if the final amount is distributed among the residents, in the end it will not be such a big figure. Accordingly, the more willing, the cheaper the work will cost. Monthly data from the meter is removed by employees of the heat supply organization, who distribute the resulting figure between apartments, taking into account the area of each.

Important! If the service provider does not comply with the temperature of the water supplied to the heating system of the house stipulated in the contract, then by law it will be obliged to return the funds spent to users.

Before you purchase a common heat meter for heating, you should solve the following tasks:

Heat meters can be individual and communal

To ensure that the process of installing the meter is not delayed, experts recommend immediately contacting companies that perform the full range of services for installation, project creation and coordination. And you also need to find out beforehand whether the current heat service provider is installing meters. Often utilities have agreements with private firms that perform the installation of heat meters in the houses entrusted to them on preferential terms.

As for the benefits, installing meters for heating in the house is considered an economical solution. However, there are some nuances. For example, if the windows in the entrance are old, broken, then the heat loss on the entrance will be significant, which will subsequently affect the total amount for heating. Sometimes, due to such losses, heat costs may exceed standard norms. These nuances need to be foreseen in advance and assess the feasibility of installation.

To install a communal meter, the consent of at least half of the residents is required

Individual meter for heating in the apartment

Despite the fact that in some cases the installation of heat meters at home or in the entrance will be cheaper, but the economic effect in the near future can not wait. For this reason, many consumers prefer individual meters, which are mounted directly in each apartment.

Useful advice! The price of individual heat meters in the apartment is higher, but as a result of the installation of the device, the payment for heat will be lower than when using a communal device.

Before installing the metering device, you first need to figure out how the heating meter works in the apartment. So, the operation of an individual device involves placing a distributor on each battery, whose task is to record the temperature and its fluctuations over a certain period. Usually, fluctuations over the course of a month are taken into account. Based on the obtained indicators, the payment for the consumed thermal energy is calculated.

To understand whether it is possible to put a meter for heating in an apartment, you need to know some restrictions that arise for technical reasons. Considering that the installation of the heat meter is carried out on each riser, then if there are several risers in the apartment, installation of several devices will be required. Therefore, when heating is installed vertically, distributors are installed that calculate the heat consumption based on the temperature difference on the surface of the battery and in the air of the room.

The installation of an individual meter will cost more than a house-wide one, but the cost savings thanks to it are more significant

With horizontal wiring, it is much easier to install the meter on the heating battery. In rare cases, thermal devices are attached to the return line, but in this case the calculation takes place on a different principle.

What you need to consider before installing a meter for heating in an apartment

The placement of heat meters in houses on the territory of the Russian Federation is regulated by Federal Law No. 261, which obliges the installation of household appliances that take into account heat costs. Installation is carried out at the expense of associations of apartment owners, the so-called condominiums. The method of payment and the method of calculating services in houses with an installed heat meter is regulated by Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Russian Federation No. 354. From the main theses of this resolution , the following stand out:

An individual heat meter is serviced by a supplier company at the expense of the owner

It follows from the above theses that the installation of a common heating unit at home is considered mandatory, because otherwise heating services may increase by 1.5 times, and data from a personal meter will not be taken into account at all. For these reasons, it makes no sense to install meters for heating in an apartment if there are rooms with uncontrolled heat consumption in the house.

Important! According to the law, the utility supplier company can allow the installation of the device, but when drawing up the payment has the right not to take into account the received indicators. Therefore, such nuances need to be solved in advance – before installing the counter, so as not to get senseless waste.

In some cases, in the absence of technical capabilities for the installation of a communal unit that controls the flow of heat into the house, an official act is issued confirming the impossibility of performing the work. Therefore, the only correct option is considered to be the installation of a heat meter in an apartment and separately in the entrance, because the individual device does not take into account the consumption of thermal energy spent on heating non-residential premises, which include:

• stairwells and platforms;
• technical premises;
• basements;
• storerooms.

Related article:

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The main types of heating meters for an apartment or house

The main task of heating meters in an apartment, multi–storey or private house is to calculate the amount of energy consumed spent on heating a particular dwelling. This takes into account not only the volume of water that has passed through the radiator, but also the energy consumption given off by the water in the room. The formula for calculating the amount of heat is as follows:

Any of the selected counters must have a certificate and passport

Q=V*(T1-T2), where:

V is the volume of water that has passed through the heating system;
T1 – water temperature in the supply riser;
T2 – temperature indicators of water in the discharge line;
Q – the amount of heat received by the apartment or other room, on the basis of which the amount in the payment is calculated.

Based on the data required for the calculation, the heat meter for the battery should have a rather complicated design. Regardless of the type of device, it consists of the following elements:

Ultrasonic, vortex, tachometric and electromagnetic meters are used for apartments

Important! Whichever device is chosen for installation in an apartment or in a house, the device must have a passport and certificate. It is necessary that the documents contain information about the initial verification of the meter carried out by the manufacturer. All information must be duplicated on the body of the heat meter in the form of a sticker or stamp. Included with most devices is a verification sheet, which is filled in by the responsible person.

A large number of battery meters are allocated, but the following types are mainly used in the conditions of apartments:

• mechanical (or tachometric);
• electromagnetic;
• vortex;
• ultrasonic;
• overhead sensor.

The main characteristics and prices of meters for heating batteries in the apartment

The mechanical heat meters in the apartment got their name due to the fact that the costs of heat carriers are calculated using an impeller immersed in a pipe. The device is operated by means of two sensors embedded in the supply and return lines. The task of the sensors is to calculate the consumption of thermal energy by determining the difference in water temperatures. The main advantage is the low price of the heating meter (from 5200 rubles). Many experts note the excessive sensitivity of the device to the quality of the coolant, as well as the weak protection of the device from penetration in order to twist the indicators.

The cost of a meter for heating an apartment starts from 22 thousand rubles

The principle of operation of an electromagnetic meter for a heating battery in an apartment is to calculate the electric current generated when heat carriers pass through a magnetic field. The devices are characterized by stable operation and are widely used. If the wire connections were made poorly during installation or any impurities got into the coolant, inaccurate transmission of measurements is possible, which may entail both savings and unnecessary costs. The advantages of electromagnetic meters include:

• high accuracy of the received data;
• long service life;
• possibility of installation in any convenient position.

Among the disadvantages, it is worth noting the price of a heat meter, which starts from 22 thousand rubles, which significantly exceeds the cost of other types of devices. Also, when installing the device, special care should be taken to connect the electrodes to avoid inaccuracies. Due to the high cost of not only the device itself, but also its maintenance, it is rarely used.

What are vortex heat meters in an apartment: prices

The design of the vortex heat meter in the apartment was created taking into account the fact that when a coolant enters the device, special vortices are formed, resulting from an obstacle that is built into the device. By determining the frequency of each vortex that has arisen, which is proportional to the velocity of the fluid in the coolant, and the energy consumption is calculated.

Vortex counters are characterized by a long service life

The speed is read due to either ultrasound or a magnetic field, after which the volume of heated water in the heating system is determined. The vortex thermal metering device has the following advantages:

• affordable price of a meter for heating in an apartment – from 10-12 thousand rubles.;
• long-term operation;
• minimal wear of parts, which significantly reduces the cost of repairing or replacing the device;
• the possibility of installation not only for horizontal, but also for vertical wiring of the heating system;
• minimum electricity consumption.

Interesting information! To measure the amount of heat consumed by an apartment building or an industrial facility, a so-called industrial or house heat meter is installed, which can be vortex, turbine or electromagnetic. The main difference between household and industrial appliances is the size of the pipe section. The price for the device starts from 23 thousand rubles.

Among the disadvantages of using a vortex device, the complexity of installation is highlighted, for which a large pipeline gap is required. Other disadvantages of the device:

The price of a vortex heat meter starts from 23 thousand rubles

Ultrasonic individual heating meters: prices

Ultrasonic heat meters in the apartment calculate the flow rate of the coolant due to the ultrasonic signal, which is supplied by the emitter and read by the receiver. Both elements of the device are mounted at a certain distance from each other on a horizontal heating radiator. The notification emanating from the radiator moves with the flow of the coolant and reaches the receiver after a certain period of time, which depends on the speed of movement of warm water in the circuit of the heat supply system. The calculation of the thermal energy consumption is based on the time spent on the passage of the signal from point to point.

More than 10 types of ultrasonic heat meters for apartments are produced, but the most popular ones include:

• frequency;
• doppler;
• correlational.

In addition to the main task of calculating energy costs, the flow meter may have an additional built-in function that regulates the flow of hot water into the system. The main advantages of using an ultrasonic device:

The ultrasonic meter of foreign production costs from 12 thousand rubles

Like most other devices, according to reviews, the ultrasonic heating meter in the apartment is also sensitive to the quality of water in the heating system and can give a short-term failure due to the appearance of air bubbles or dirt particles formed as a result of scale or scale. Most often, the indicators change upward. The main condition for installing an ultrasonic heat meter is the presence of straight sections of pipe before and after the device. The total length of a straight pipe segment should not be less than a meter. Only in this case, manufacturers guarantee the accuracy of the calculated readings.

Calculators and distributors of thermal energy: advantages of using

Calculators and heat distributors are meters that calculate the relative costs of heat energy. They consist of a thermal adapter and two elements characterized by sensitivity to temperature fluctuations. Sensors measure the temperature of the battery surface and indoor air every 3 minutes, determining the difference in indicators. The resulting values for heat consumption are added up and generated on the device screen.

Devices of this type will have to be installed on all batteries in the apartment

The heat calculators on each sensor are set immediately before installing the device and putting it into operation. To do this, all the required coefficients and power indicators are entered into the memory of the thermal energy meter, which then allow the device to display the amount of heat consumed.

Important! The data displayed on the device screen are conventional units, to convert which into kWh, it is necessary to multiply the figures obtained by the power of the heating radiator, which is indicated in the product passport, as well as by the coefficient corresponding to the type of radiator confirmed by the meter manufacturer.

For the reason that distributors and calculators determine the consumption of thermal energy in one radiator, their number should correspond to the number of batteries in the apartment. Both types of heat meters work properly, regardless of the quality of the heat carriers circulating in the heating system. Other advantages are considered:

• the relatively low price of the devices is about 2000-3000 rubles.;
• long service life – more than 10 years;
• simple and easy installation on the battery surface;
• the presence of a single controller that calculates the sum of indicators read from several devices (the option is not available in all models).

Calculators and distributors can give an error of up to 12%

Before installing a meter for heating in an apartment of this type, it should be borne in mind that the relative error of the obtained indicators in some cases reaches 12%, especially a large deviation is shown by heat distributors. You also need to competently approach the purchase of a kit for installing the device, which must match the type of battery installed. If you choose the wrong set, the quality of information collection will be significantly reduced, therefore, without a specialized installation kit, it is more expedient to simply install a heat meter near the radiator.

Where to buy and how to install heating meters in an apartment or house

You can buy a heat meter both in a specialized store and on the Internet, guided by the principle of choosing household appliances, when it is better to deal with proven and popular manufacturers, on whose goods you can find a sufficient number of truthful positive reviews. Often manufacturers not only provide a guarantee for the goods, but also carry out service or warranty service.

At the time of purchase, you should check the availability of a warranty certificate and a technical passport. It would be useful to check the factory number of the device with the one that is entered in the product passport, so as not to purchase a fake product. It is recommended to make sure beforehand that the device has a measurement range corresponding to the parameters of the heating system at a specific installation location. It should be noted the following: despite the fact that it is feasible to carry out the installation on your own, it is better to involve professionals in this process. The algorithm of work regarding the installation of the device consists of the following stages:

You can buy a heating meter both in a special store and via the Internet

• preparation of a preliminary work plan and coordination with public utilities;
• direct installation of a certified device that has the appropriate documentation;
• registration and registration of a heat meter with public utilities;
• putting the heat meter into operation.

Before allowing the device to be put into operation, the representative of the heat supplier company must compare the factory numbers and the numbers indicated in the passport, as well as check the quality of the installation and its compliance with the technical passport and design documentation. On average, the time between calling a representative and obtaining an installation permit is 5-7 working days. Permission or refusal is issued within 10 days from the date of the first request.

Important! The process of completing the installation of the device must be accompanied by its sealing. It is the presence of a seal that guarantees the smooth commissioning of the device.

Usually, the heat supplier company has its own specialists who are engaged in verification, so first of all you need to contact them. In the passport, the device is accompanied by documents indicating the period after which the device needs to be verified. Most often, this period is 4-5 years. To verify the heat meter, you will need to leave a request at Rostest or another testing company by calling. Data to be provided:

It is recommended to entrust the installation of the counter to a professional

• model of the heat meter;
• the principle of operation of the device;
• installation date;
• the number of the counter series.

By phone, you can also agree on the time of verification, which will suit the employee and the client. Performing the verification, the employee must verify the quality of the device and the correctness of accounting for heat consumption indicators, after which he will issue a document confirming the success of the verification and the date of its implementation.

The heating meter is considered a valuable device that will help to really save money on bills from utilities. If you follow all the rules during installation and calculate the expediency of purchasing the device, you will not have to pay extra money for poor-quality provision of services by a heat supply company, which are getting more expensive every year.